Category: Italian

Gorgeous Green Fusilli with Bacon

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This delight of a dish involves hardly any cooking and the sauce  is so quick and easy (it takes around the same length of time to prepare as the pasta takes to cook). This is one of my favourite recipes as usually when you are trying to find low point pasta meals, you would stick to tomato based pastas as they are lower in points. This recipe however, is a nice low point tomato free alternative. Depending on how hungry I am I sometimes add an extra handful of spinach leaves whole at the end and let it wilt in the heat.

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Aubergine Bake – 7sp

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I love lasagne but there are times when I’ve had a particularly carby few days when I just can’t hack more pasta/carbs. This recipe is therefore a perfect way of having a gorgeous, filling meal with no carbs and for hardly any points. The aubergines add such a nice flavour to the dish and make a really nice change to pasta.

When I made this I made a (very!!) big batch of bolognaise sauce (enough to serve 8). I only use 500g of extra lean mincemeat but I pad it out with lots of veg (onion, mushrooms, peppers, courgette see my recipe for Bolognaise sauce here, this serve 4 as a bolognaise but padded out serves 8 in a lasagne or aubergine bake). This gave me enough bolognaise sauce to make a lasagne to serve 6 and two separate Aubergine bakes. If you are going to give this a whirl, your points may change if you use more or less of the sauce so point accordingly.

I make this in individual lasagne dishes as I think they keep everything nice and combined and it means you have just enough Aubergine. If making for more than 2 people you could use a large lasagne dish but if so I would say use at least 1 aubergine per person and they are deeper and take more filling.

The recipe below is therefore written for making in individual lasagne dishes. I served mine with a big green side salad.

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Sausage Gnocchi – 10sp

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I watched a rerun of Jaime’s 15 minute meals the other night and saw the end of him making this dish. It looked delicious and so I thought I would give it a go but when I got a hold of the recipe it was rather plain and boring. Keen to try gnocchi anyway I added a few bits and pieces and changed a few bits round and came up with the below recipe! It was delicious and although you don’t get much gnocchi for your points, it’s a nice change from pasta and adding lots of free veg bulks your bowl out a treat! It’s a perfect dish to make if you are in a rush as the gnocchi itself takes only 3 minutes!

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Spinach, Ricotta and Chorizo Cannelloni – 13sp

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I love a good meal in an Italian restaurant and there’s nothing better than some oozing, cheesy cannelloni however its always off the cards these days as it is just no good for the old waistline.  That’s why this week I decided to try and make a low point version of this delicious treat that was bursting with flavour yet not too heavy on the points. The result was delicious. The cannelloni was stuffed full of goodness as well as cheese and chorizo and the sauce on top really set it off.

Instead of using cannelloni tubes, I used fresh lasagne sheets as they are half the hassle and really cheap. A 250g pack of fresh lasagne (which is enough to feed 4-6 people) is just £1.

I served this with some fresh salad leaves and a tea spoon of balsamic glaze on top. If you are a vegetarian, this would be equally as delicious without the chorizo. Simply leave it out and the points work out at 10sp per person.

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Chicken, Butternut Squash and Pesto Lasagne – just 14sp

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This little number (an adaptation of a recipe I came across on the Good Food website here) was cooked up at the special request of my lovely little sister who fancied a new chicken pasta dish. I really fancied trying something new and after a bit a research came across this little treat. I cooked it up last night and it was absolutely delicious and so different from anything else I’ve tasted so, Michelle, enjoy!

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Venison Meatballs in a Red Wine Ragu Sauce – 6sp

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I noticed that Aldi had started selling some lovely venison meatballs a while ago and for only 40kal a meatball, I knew I had to give them a go! The venison is a lovely different flavour, and the ragu sauce, which usually would take hours to simmer and reduce, is both quick, easy and packed with veg! I added a little cream (1 tbsp) but this is optional, I find it takes a little of the tang of the tomatoes away, but it’s lovely without it too. It’s a great way to use up lots of veg and get a nice portion of sauce for not many points at all!

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Spaghetti Bolognese – 5sp

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I love a nice, quick and easy spaghetti bolognese and I’ve been making this one for a good while now. It’s a recipe which, I think, is unaffected by the fact I am on a diet as I’ve never used anything too bad in there. I think it’s worth making sure you are using extra lean mince as that is such an easy way to grab a few sp back and put them towards some extra pasta or a little cheese. I use this exact recipe when I’m making lasagne too but I usually add around half a box of tomato passata (at the same time as the tomatoes) to make it slightly more saucy and rich, perfect for baking in the oven!

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Smoky Bacon, Tomato and Chilli Pasta – 12sp

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The OH loves a nice bacon sandwich at the weekend and there always seems to be a few rashers left over after so this weekend I thought I would whip up something with the left overs. A hearty pasta dish on a Sunday evening always goes down well so I thought I would put together a new recipe with the left over bacon and other bits left over from the weekend. Its amazing how luxurious just 2 tbsps of single cream make a dish taste for barely any points and the end result really does not seem like something that you would equate with a low sp dish, but it really is!

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Caramelised and Red Onion Goat’s Cheese Pizza – 12sp

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I love a good pizza and one of my favourite toppings is a lovely little bit of goat’s cheese so when I found out about the ‘hole in the middle’ pizza at Pizza Express for only 14pp I was delighted.  Having finished however I was left a little disappointed as the ‘hole’ was just that bit too big and the toppings to0 sparse and I just didn’t feel full enough to give it 14 of my daily points. Looking at it however, made me realise that it would most likely be rather easy to make at home for less points, without a hole and more flavour so I gave it a whirl and it really was!

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